Pablo Sandoval says he had never hit a game-ending homer at any point in his baseball journey from northern Venezuela to San Francisco.

If he had ever tripped on the dirt and faceplanted while trying to stretch a double into a triple, he wasn't about to admit that, either.

This promising season is just full of new experiences for the 22-year-old slugger and his jubilant Giants teammates.

Sandoval's three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth ended San Francisco's wild 9-7 victory over the Washington Nationals last night.

"I couldn't believe that happened for me," said Sandoval, a free swinger who uncharacteristically took four pitches before his homer. "In this moment, I'm just going to get my pitch and drive the ball. I don't want to tie the game. I just want to end it."

Ryan Zimmerman extended his hitting streak to 30 games with two singles for the hard-luck Nationals, who have lost nine straight to the Giants — none tougher than this defeat after Washington scored six runs in the late innings. San Francisco blew a 5-1 lead when Nick Johnson hit a three-run homer in the seventh and drove in two more runs with a weak single in the eighth.

But after Bengie Molina hit an eighth-inning homer off Kip Wells, the Giants rallied in the ninth against Joe Beimel (0-2), Washington's setup man getting a chance to close.

Emmanuel Burriss singled and Edgar Renteria drew a walk before Sandoval cracked a 2-2 pitch into left for his third homer of the season, setting off a frenzied celebration at home plate for the Giants' 15th win in 21 games, pushing them four games above .500 for the first time in nearly three years.

Sandoval atoned for his baserunning blunder two innings earlier, when he tripped and landed face first while trying to stretch an extra-base hit. He stayed down for several moments out of embarrassment, not injury.

PHILLIES 5, DODGERS 3:

Chan Ho Park gave up two runs and walked none to win his first game with host Philadelphia, and Jayson Werth stole home to lead the Phillies past the Dodgers, who are 1-4 without suspended slugger Manny Ramirez.

PIRATES 7, CARDINALS 1:

Zach Duke limited St. Louis to three singles over eight innings after giving up a homer to Albert Pujols in the first and host Pittsburgh ended an eight-game losing streak.

METS 4, BRAVES 3:

Carlos Beltran drew a bases-loaded walk from Jeff Bennett (0-1) with two outs in the 10th inning and New York rallied to beat visiting Atlanta.

BREWERS 6, MARLINS 3:

Prince Fielder hit a pair of two-run homers and Rickie Weeks and Mike Cameron hit solo shots for host Milwaukee.

CUBS 6, PADRES 2:

Milton Bradley hit a towering two-run homer off Jake Peavy, and Rich Harden won his fourth straight decision, giving up two runs and four hits in six innings for host Chicago.

ROCKIES 12, ASTROS 1:

Ian Stewart hit a grand slam and a solo homer and Ubaldo Jimenez scattered seven hits in seven innings for host Colorado.

REDS 3, DIAMONDBACKS 1:

Brandon Phillips homered and drove in two runs for visiting Cincinnati, and Micah Owings earned the win going seven innings and allowing one run and a season-low four hits. He walked two and struck out four.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

BLUE JAYS 5, YANKEES 1:

Roy Halladay pitched a five-hitter to best former teammate A.J. Burnett, Scott Rolen had three hits and three RBIs and host Toronto beat New York. Aaron Hill hit a solo home run for the Blue Jays, who improved to an AL best 23-12. Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter was scratched with a sore right oblique.

RANGERS 7, MARINERS 1:

Josh Hamilton returned from the disabled list and hit the go-ahead homer in a six-run seventh inning for host Texas, which won for the eighth time in 10 games. Hamilton was activated after missing 13 games with a strained ribcage muscle.

TWINS 6, TIGERS 2:

Joe Mauer hit a home run, and was robbed of another by Clete Thomas, and host Minnesota's struggling bullpen protected a lead for three innings. Joe Crede homered for the Twins in his first at-bat after missing three games with a hamstring injury.

RED SOX 4, ANGELS 3:

Jason Varitek drove in the go-ahead run with a double in the ninth inning and J.D. Drew homered for visiting Boston. Drew led off the ninth with a single against Scot Shields (1-3) and scored one out later when Varitek lined a 1-2 pitch to right-center.

ATHLETICS 12, ROYALS 3:

Jack Cust hit a three-run homer in a seven-run second inning and Orlando Cabrera had three hits and four RBIs for host Oakland.

ORIOLES 7, RAYS 5:

Adam Jones hit two home runs for the first time in his career and drove in four runs, leading host Baltimore past Tampa Bay.

WHITE SOX 7, INDIANS 4:

Jim Thome hit a pair of two-run homers — his 42nd multi-homer game — to lead visiting Chicago past Cleveland. Both home runs were off Indians starter Jeremy Sowers (0-2).